Fear the Portals
by Woodswolf
Summary: A three-section semi-songfic series that I began to write in 2009.  Coraline X OC.
1. One

_(A/N): I wrote the beginnings of this a long time ago. 2009, to be exact._

_But now it's here._

_And now I'm finishing it._

_Just so that you know... you could count this as a songfic. The first section could go with _Defying Gravity_ (I'm using all the Glee versions for these... I like them best). The next part goes with _My Life Would Suck Without You_. The final part goes with _No Air_._

_Yes, they're all relevant. The lyrics are, anyway. And the moods are, too. Kinda._

By the time you're reading this, I'm dead.

No, it doesn't bother me. She's here, too.

She's mine, and I'm hers. We're happy.

Well, kinda.

It's the way we got here that we're not happy about.

We'll tell our story.

* * *

><p>My family was poor. Very poor. We had barely anything to eat. Always on the verge of starvation.<p>

My father was always moving around. Trying to get a job. We hadn't heard from him in a long time. We always figured that 'the next day' we would see his will in the mail. If he even made one. And if we had a mailbox to get mail.

These thoughts went on for seven years.

Then, one day on our doorstep (which was covered in several inches of snow), I found an envelope. I remembered his handwriting from when he would help me write stories. It was his. It was addressed to me and my sister.

"Mother!" I called. "There's a letter from Father! It's addressed to me and my sister!"

Well, I didn't say the 'my sister' part. I said her name. But the ghosts were right. The names go first. I don't remember my lover's name, for example, but I remember our time together. But I'm getting sidetracked.

Mother told me to bring it into the kitchen and open it and read it for us. Mother, being nearly blind, could no longer read.

I read the single page I found inside.

"Dear Son and Daughter," (Again, I'm substituting for the names I don't know)

"I have, after the several years of being apart, been able to save up enough money for this. Come to the Place of Dreams! I shall make you stars! I wish to see all of you again so much. Come here, to where I am, and become part of a tale."

"I have already purchased three train tickets to get you here. Flip over the page and you shall see them, taped to the back. Come and see your dear father again, and have the opportunity of a lifetime!"

"With love, Father"

I flipped the page over and, true to his word, three train tickets to The Place of Dreams were taped there. Realizing they were addressed for a train that was leaving tonight at four, I told my mother and sister to pack up their bags. I did the same with mine, packing my favorite red tail bow and necktie.

I didn't look back at my room. I figured that I would come back here eventually, to my first home, the place I was born, the place I hoped to die. But I was dead wrong. Because all of that changed.

_(A/N): Oh. Isn't that strange?_

_I haven't touched this in two years and I just noticed the pun thing I put in there._

_Dead wrong... heh heh..._


	2. Two

_(A/N): Magic works its ways._

_That's the explanation for everything._

My family was quite wealthy. I had lived in the Place of Dreams all my life. It wasn't special for me anymore.

I was actually the one that kept the family alive. How did I do so? I acted.

In the Place of Dreams, the primary industry is acting. Manufacturing dreams to be sent around the world by night. Some dreams would disappear in a second; others would haunt one for several years.

Fairy Tales are the best kind of acting. It works, still, very much like a dream. It's just that these are the only dreams that have enough substance to become solid by morning. They are the ones that don't evaporate, but stay and are shared with millions of people, if not billions. They are the most beautiful stories ever imaginable. And one is created only every seven years, roughly, in accordance with tradition.

Well, my parents told me just today that they were making one. And that they needed a lead. A female lead. I understood before they finished.

"Yeah, yeah, I understand..." I told them. I prepared to go in for auditions.

* * *

><p>The train was different from normal ones that were a treat to ride. I swear that several times we were driving on the moon. Or over it. I couldn't tell.<p>

Eventually we came to stop in a huge station. As soon as the door of the train opened, I ran to my father and jumped into his open arms.

"Father!" I cried. I was teary after all his years away. "You're here!"

"Son!" he shouted. "It's so good to see you! You've gotten bigger than when I last saw you! You're so much taller!"

Everyone embraced. Then he explained what was going to happen. We were going to get into a cab (I was so excited! I had never been in one!) and drive to this place where they were having auditions for the newest, yet-unnamed fairy tale. I could hardly wait.

_(A/N): Someday, I will build a train to the moon. And actually, I've already built one._

_It's in my imagination._


	3. Three

_(A/N): Who is the other woman?_

_That depends on the context._

The room had two people in it. One, a 5' 6" man, was probably the director. The second was a woman who was smiling sweetly. I can barely remember what she looked like.

The director told me that this was the actor playing... I can't remember who. All I can remember is that it was a she, really.

I told them my name (That part is gone now...) and that I was trying out for the lead. They made me read from a 'scratch script' and do a few things. After a bit, the woman and director discussed quietly in the far corner while I sat. They agreed. I was the lead.

* * *

><p>I saw her walk out.<p>

'Beautiful' didn't even cover it.

My sister and I auditioned for roles. I ended up the lead mouse, and my sister one of the back-ups. She had to learn how to play trumpet.

It turns out the one I lusted for was in it, too.

And so I watched in secret over time.

Then the day came that we ran into each other on the street.

That was the day we finally knew each other. That was the day we fell in love.

Over time, we went out more often. One day we sat under a tree in a park until far after dark, just talking.

We knew each other as if we were childhood friends.

And we were in love.

_(A/N): Love works its ways._

_But sometimes love leaves no choice._


	4. Four

_(A/N): This is the end of the happy times._

It was the day we would begin acting.

Fairy Tales have a certain... accuracy, you could say. When you go in, you forget everything that's ever happened to you in the real world, and you only remember some fake memories and a rough script.

However, that's only when you're not on camera. The rest of the time you can remember everything.

They even have isolated worlds where they do the filming. You get there by going through a portal. There are rumors that it's actually the portal that wipes the memories, but no one is really sure what's true and what's not.

So I walked up to the portal, and stuck my hand through to make sure it worked.

It did.

And then I was gone, off in another world.

* * *

><p>It would have been a few hours before I would be able to go in. So I was walking around the complex for a while, looking at things with my sister.<p>

Suddenly her ears perked and her tail, with its bright green bow on the end, twitched. She almost dropped her trumpet case.

"Listen," she whispered.

I listened as hard as I could. I heard shouting in a far room.

"Come on," I told her. She followed me as I walked off towards the room.

The shouting was louder here. I heard them. It was the director and some woman I didn't know, fighting.

"I'm sorry, but I can't guarantee a death on camera! Plus, it's illegal!" the man shouted.

"You know I need this! You know why I need this! Would you prefer if I used you?"

"No! Please!"

"I've already given you my whole salary in this contract. I'm not sure how much more you want. What do you want? Fame? Power? Because I will have both of those things with _plenty_ extra if you give me this death."

"I want money. I want a lot of money. One mil up front, the rest of your salary on completion, or no go."

"Fine. Sign that, then. Get it over with, already!"

There was the sound of pens scratching on paper, and then the woman spoke again.

"So, now I get to kill her. And you get money. We're both happy, no?"

_(A/N): End of part one. Put 'My Life Would Suck Without You' on your playlists, people. For those of you who are actually bothering with doing that._


End file.
